BookBrowse Reviews The Sign of The Book by John Dunning

The return of Cliff Janeway - book dealer and sleuth! Mystery

From the book jacket: Rich with the intricacies of book collecting that only an expert like John Dunning can offer, this is a beautifully crafted, enthralling novel of suspense from the consummate bookman himself.

Comment: This is the fourth volume in Dunning's series about Cliff Janeway, antiquarian book dealer and occasional private investigator. After writing the first two in the series, he took almost a 10 year break, during which time he added to his true crime series, and wrote two books (one fiction, one non-fiction) about the early days of radio (see sidebar for more on these). In 2004 he resurrected Cliff Janeway in The Bookman's Promise, and now is back again with a fourth volume, The Sign of the Book. While some reviewers are a little critical of the plot - describing it as 'neither dense nor twisty enough to rank with Dunning's best work' and 'arbitrarily grafted onto the main narrative', all appear to agree that this is a must for booklovers. As Booklist puts it, 'This is the kind of thing Janeway fans love: juicy nuggets of bibliophile gold. That these tasty morsels come wrapped in serviceable crime plots involving tough guys, gutsy gals, and snappy patter makes the pleasure of devouring them all the sweeter.'

The next in the series, The Bookwoman's Last Fling, is due out in hardcover next month.

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in March 2005, and has been updated for the April 2006 edition. Click here to go to this issue.